The Allisons
of Avish
Hill & The Miramichi by
Roger and Margaret Ruth, Rochester, New York

Since Thanksgiving was only a few days
away, Mum and Aunt Sadie were deciding how to share the preparation for
the dinner. I hoped Mum would offer to make the pumpkin pies as I liked
her recipe that called for lots of molasses.

There was one thing that I knew for certain, the men would eat and then
vanish to the yard to discuss with Gramp the changes that needed to be
made in the farm before another spring rolled around.

Way over in Avish Hill, in County Londonderry, Ireland in the early
1820s, William Allison, who was in his 50's probably talked over with
his family of four sons and two daughters the changes they needed to
make. He possibly painted a picture of a country, where land could be
received for the asking.

A new book entitled THE ALLISONS OF AVISH HILL & THE MIRAMICHI
traces the descendants of William Allison, who brought six of his
children to the Miramichi in 1824. The book was compiled in the
1980s and early 90s by Margaret S. Ruth and her late husband, Roger A.
Ruth, of Rochester, New York, but was not released until 2003 due to a
lengthy illness suffered by Mr. Ruth, and his death in 2002. Mr.
Ruth was a great-great-great grandson of William Allison.

The Allison children and grandchildren married into a host of other
families, and their descendants now number in the
thousands. A few of the surnames found among them are
Ashton, Brown, Copp, Crammond, Dunnett, Hambrook, Harris, Hosford,
Hubbard, Kingston, Matchett, Matthews, McCoombs, McKinley, McLean,
Mullin, Norton, Parker, Payne, Peabody, Petrie, Sherrard, Stewart,
Sturgeon, Sutherland, Touchie, Urquhart, Waye, and Whitney. While many
of the descendants stayed in New Brunswick, others migrated to Maine,
Minnesota, Wisconsin, and elsewhere in the United States and are today
spread across much of North America.

This book contains interesting biographical information which brings
the lists of names and dates to life. We learn that a son,
William Allison (Jr.), who was born in Ireland in 1801, married Susanna
Kingston, of the well-known North West Miramichi family by that name,
and achieved success as a lumberman and farmer. There is an
interesting story told about his granddaughter Rose Urquhart, who went
to New York City in 1910, armed with a diploma from the Saint John
Business College, and became the executive secretary of a large import
and export firm. In 1920, when very few women were receiving such
assignments, she was sent to Japan to organize a
Tokyo office for her employers.

William, Jr.'s sister Lydia Allison married Edward Whitney, of
Whitneyville, west of Newcastle. Besides several children
who settled in New Brunswick, their large family included five sons who
joined in the westward migration. Two of them founded “Whitney
Brothers,” of Superior, Wisconsin, a huge construction and ship salvage
business on the Great Lakes a hundred years ago. Another created
a pile-driving business in Sioux City, Iowa, which was called upon to
do pile-driving jobs all around the US.

Besides being a genealogical work of family and community interest,
this book is of sociological value as a case study of a pioneering New
Brunswick family, typical of many 19th century families throughout the
province.

THE ALLISONS OF AVISH HILL & THE MIRAMICHI has 165 pages,
including a number of photo pages and a comprehensive index.

* * *

Ruby M. Cusack is a genealogy buff
living in Saint John. Send your queries to her at: rmcusack@nbnet.nb.ca.
Include your name and mailing address for the benefit of the readers of
the newspaper who do not have access to E-mail but could have
information to share with you. Please put "Yesteryear" followed
by the surnames in your query. For more information on
submitting
queries, visit http://www.rubycusack.com/Query-Instructions.html

Ruby
contributes a "Family History" column to the Telegraph-Journal on
Tuesdays